Everything is Fine, Nobody is Happy

Why social media is great in many ways but also bad in more.

I honestly feel social media has increased the amount of creativity and changed the way people make art. The number of people, an individual with a small spark of talent, or with an interest in some kind of art, or actually someone who just likes doing something, can reach is incredible. The possibility a person has in the reach of his hand to connect with someone across the world with just a click and be able to share his content anytime he wishes to is mind-blowing. But with all the great possibilities social media and the internet have given us, it has also brought in equally worse things. Social media can easily make a person seek out other’s approval in whatever they do and whatsoever they post. It can simply make someone overthink every little thing that they do, that they eventually lose confidence in themselves and seek out approval in all aspects of their life. But it all starts within your head.

Lasting impression > Fleeting engagement

I happened to come across this equation that changed the way I looked at things, every time I post on social media. We often are found chasing short term engagements. Posting content that grabs instant attention, pictures which do not give out much value but simply just make us feel slightly better at the moment. These engagements are often fleeting. People don’t hold on to such things and I’m sure it will not be giving you a quality following in the long run. Above all, will it ever make you feel truly fulfilled? Find something you love doing, do stuff that truly moves you, chase things that capture your soul. Do it all! But do it for yourself and not for the likes or for the people who follow you.

Don’t you think it’s much much more freeing to be able to post without the worry of what others might think? or if you’ll get enough number of likes for the particular post. Rather you are simply just happy that you truly worked for something or did something that you loved and you just want to capture the moment inside a small box on your screen. That’s all that matters at the end.

Now that you find yourself doing things for yourself and not to simply post it, now that you stopped putting stuff up for engagement that’s fleeting, now that you are truly involved in the process of doing what you love and showing it to the world (your world). The people who truly care and like your work will stick around, and the ones who find out about your work and happen to like it will join the journey. Now this time, they’ll remember it because it truly meant something. It was not just some fleeting engagement, but it leaves a lasting impression!

You Become What You Consume

Meanwhile, from the consuming end, we mostly feel the need to be always finding new stuff. Social media has been designed in such a way to make us feel the need to feed our brains with information every second. Simply just a scroll down and we get another new post. We often find ourselves stuck searching for something to entertain us. Hoping someone or something would magically pop up and make your day a little better than what it has been. Endlessly scrolling and scrolling, just look around.. everything is fine, you’re just not happy. Waiting on something to pop up on your screen and make it better? Maybe just look around. Everything is fine, there’s a high chance you’re missing out on something beautiful right in front of you — Just look around.